Juicing? Pros and Cons — a reader asks

Posted on 10/22/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

A new reader posted this question earlier this week.

What is your opinion on juicing”? A friend who has been following this regime for over six months looks and feels remarkably better. Cleveland Clinic reviews online (See link below), in regards to the purported nutrient claims, are tepid.

My trusty old Jack LaLanne juicer that is now resting in my basement

My response: Just saw your question about juicing. When I first got started with 100% plant-based eating almost nine years ago, I did a lot of juicing. And I continued that habit for about four years; gradually, my juicing became less frequent. Then, about a year ago, I put my juicer in the basement. Why?

I got tired of throwing away perfectly good food in the form of pulp (fiber) that could not be turned into juice. Not wanting to waste food, or fiber, I just decided to forego the tedious daily process of juicing. Also, my daily consumption of whole, plant-based foods has improved greatly since I first started, so I no longer feared not getting enough nutrients.

Nowadays, I gladly accept fresh juice if offered to me, but don’t go out of my way to prepare it myself. I think juicing is great for certain vegetables where you can get a ton of nutrients without having to eat a mountain of greens. The old axiom I learned was “Eat your fruit, juice your veggies.” Here’s what doctors Oz and Roizen had to say in the Cleveland Clinic article:

Throwing fruits and veggies into a whirring juicer spells death for much of their fiber. That’s because the pulpy fiber is trapped when the juice is extracted. Now, we aren’t opposed to juicing in moderation. And we’re crazy about our own healthy smoothies. But we eat most of our fruits and vegetables whole.

Despite claims to the contrary in TV ads, juicing doesn’t make nutrients more available to your body, and raw-food enzymes don’t have special powers, including the ability to survive your stomach’s digestive acids. In fact, if you have diabetes or are overweight, know that ounce for ounce, fruit and starchy vegetable juices are far higher in sugar than the whole foods they come from.

Our bottom line: It’s fine to occasionally drink your fruits and veggies, as long as you eat them often, too.

Leveraging the simple, yet powerful concept of maximizing the percent of your calories from whole plant foods — still in nature’s package

My bottom line.  I tend to agree with the docs at the Cleveland Clinic. Since I stopped juicing, I have noticed nothing negative in my health. But, of course, I eat at the 4-Leaf level almost every day — deriving over 80% of my calories from whole, plant-based foods, still in nature’s package. The other 20% includes any bread, pasta, tofu or wine that I might consume — and maybe an occasional piece of cheese or meat when I am a guest in someone’s home.

While I didn’t mention juicing in our book a single time, I certainly think that if you don’t mind the tedious, sometimes messy, process; then it can be great part of any near-optimal diet. I have not heard Esselstyn, Campbell or any of my other “veggie docs” advocating a great deal of juicing. Many of them, especially Dr. Fuhrman, are big on “smoothies” from the VitaMix, where none of the fiber is lost. You might enjoy this recent post. FIBER. How much should we be eating?

Authors J. Stanfield Hicks and J. Morris Hicks , working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

Juicing robs fruits and vegetables of fiber: You Docs | cleveland.com.

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Posted in Beverages (all), Healthy Eating 101 | 2 Comments

Tainted cantaloupes; the headlines never tell the story.

Posted on 10/21/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Listeria outbreak tied to packing shed. FDA says dirty equipment contributed to cantaloupe illnesses.

That was the headline in a USA Today article on 10-20-11 by Elizabeth Weise. So why do they never put the real NEWS in the headlines? After reading the article, I quickly found the root cause of this ongoing listeria problem — the same root cause for virtually every tainted food issue that we ever hear about. That root cause is the wildly popular practice of growing animals for our food — now to the tune of 60 billion of them a year around the world.

Billions of animals spending their entire lives standing, eating, defecating and urinating. Not a pretty picture and getting worse every year.

And, if the current trend continues, we’ll soon have 100 billion of these poor creatures — who spend their entire lives eating, defecating and urinating. What happens to all of that excrement. As we explain in our book, there is simply no effective method for safely removing that vast quantity of toxic waste. In just the USA, the number is staggering: 87,000 pounds of solid waste per second — totaling 1.37 billion tons per year.

Much of that waste eventually ends up in our water supply and some of it finds its way into the innocent, health-promoting fruits and vegetables who are minding their own business — just trying to do their part to help make us all healthy. After reading the entire article (see link below), I focused quickly on this statement:

FDA officials said, a truck used to take waste cantaloupes to a nearby cattle farm was parked next to the packing shed. Cattle are known carriers of the listeria bacteria; manure on the truck’s wheels could have contaminated the area around the packing facility.

Manure. This is what takes place at the source of the ubiquitous "milk mustaches" worn frequently by many of our most "beautiful" people. YUK.

What do the experts say about the real cause of listeria? In an earlier post, I cited these facts from the website of the Mayo Clinic: Listeria bacteria can be found in soil, water and animal feces. Humans typically are infected by consuming:

  1. Raw vegetables that have been contaminated from the soil or from contaminated manure used as fertilizer
  2. Infected meat
  3. Unpasteurized milk or foods made with unpasteurized milk
  4. Certain processed foods — such as soft cheeses, hot dogs and deli meats that have been contaminated after processing”

Most Americans now think that the cause of listeria is cantaloupe.

Now those facts seem to point very clearly to the root cause – humans eating animals. Notice the highlighted words above — all related to the raising of animals for food — a practice that most of us think we actually “need” to do in order to be healthy.

Now, if you’ve followed this blog for very long, you know very well of my continuing focus on the single biggest impediment to gaining momentum in our “great food revolution of the twenty-first century,” our perceived “need” for animal protein — a widespread perception that is held by most of the world’s brightest and best educated people. For more on that topic: FOOD — World’s brightest are missing the main point. So after reading the entire USA Today article: here’s the headline that I would have preferred:

Authors J. Stanfield Hicks and J. Morris Hicks , working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Eating Animals: the hidden culprit behind the latest food scare 

Sadly, we’re not likely to see this headline anytime soon — not until the world’s leaders understand that not only do we not “need” animal protein; it is literally killing us, destroying our environment and using a staggering amount of unnecessary fossil fuel in the process.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

FDA cites dirty equipment in deadly cantaloupe outbreak – USATODAY.com.

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Posted in Food Contamination | 1 Comment

Benign dietary guidelines followed by dismal performance

Posted on 10/20/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

USDA Dietary Guidelines 2010. How are we doing?

The only thing worse than the guidelines themselves is the dismal score that Americans have achieved when measured against them. Even if everyone followed them exactly as written, we’d still have millions of obese and unhealthy citizens. But, we as a nation are not even coming close to following even those extremely weak guidelines.

And why do you think that is? My view has to do with my ongoing theme of “confusion over clarity” that totally dominates everything we see or hear about what we should be eating or not eating. The information that we hear from the media is so routinely contradictory that no one takes any of the information seriously. The fact that the information changes every day just helps every citizen rationalize to herself that no one really knows what I should be eating, so I’ll just fill up on what I crave and hope that my vitamin supplements will take care of whatever I am missing.

Our steadily rising rates of obesity and diabetes are a constant reminder of the shortcomings of that routine practice. And they are steady reminders that our nation, and indeed the Western world, is in a serious crisis that is begging for clarity.

Obviously our government is not giving us that clarity and our performance against their guidelines is living proof. Check out this report that was recently reviewed by Dr. Michael Greger on his website at nutritonfacts.org. For example, 99% of Americans don’t even eat the minimum recommended whole grains. Dr. Greger tells the whole sad story in this 3-minute video.

What is needed is a simple, clear and consistent message: Eat more whole plants if you want to be achieve vibrant health & your ideal weight and avoid all forms of chronic disease. Relizing that message will not be coming along anytime soon from the various governments of the developed nations, that leaves the responsibility in our hands — those of us who have joined the “great food revolution of the twenty-first century.” Now all we need is a well-funded international leader to pick up the mantle and help propel us forward.

Authors J. Stanfield Hicks and J. Morris Hicks , working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

You might be wondering how we got into such a mess in the first place. We tell that story in our book; you can also read a condensed version of it here on our Big Picture Page.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Video Included | Tagged | 1 Comment